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As societies across the globe grow more diverse — shaped by shifts in gender, ethnic, and religious identities, and fueled in part by migration — new sociological puzzles emerge. Diversity does not automatically lead to inclusion; instead, it often exposes and exacerbates deep-rooted inequalities. Our work confronts these challenges head-on.

We focus on some of the most urgent issues of our time: violence against LGBTQ+ individuals, systemic racism and religious intolerance, inequalities in well-being, struggles for gender equality, abortion rights, and the global resurgence of women’s movements. We study immigration and asylum not simply as policy problems but as human experiences that reshape national identities and public attitudes.

Central to our research is the question of how intersecting forms of inequality shape perceptions of belonging, solidarity, and social cohesion. We ask: Who is welcomed, who is excluded, and on what terms?

Methodologically, we are pluralists. Our toolkit spans biographical and narrative interviews, ethnographic fieldwork, surveys, and experimental designs. Across each project, we bring a critical, historically grounded lens that connects the local to the global, and the personal to the political.

Our aim is not just to describe inequality, but to challenge it — by engaging with public discourse, informing policy, and amplifying the voices of those too often left out of mainstream narratives.

Diversities & inequalities research group writing retreat at the MoLi on 3 June 2025

(opens in a new window)EqualStrength is an ongoing 3.4 million EUR Horizon Europe project. The endeavour is inherently collaborative and enjoys the contribution of a broad (opens in a new window)consortium of researchers across Europe. The overall coordinator and PI is (opens in a new window)Mathew Creighton in the School of Sociology and the administrative home is the Geary Institute for Public Policy.

The main contribution of EqualStrength is to investigate cumulative and structural forms of discrimination, outgroup prejudice and hate crimes against ethnic, racial and religious minorities from a cross-setting and intersectional perspective. Ethnic, racial and religious minorities experience discriminatory behaviour and prejudicial attitudes in multiple life domains, which accumulates across the life course. This continuous exposure perpetuates minorities’ subordinate position across generations. We deploy innovative, targetted and effective methods, which include field experiments, population-level secondary survey data, meso-level policy analysis and targeted data collection to include the perspective of minority groups who directly confront discrimination.

For more details see (opens in a new window)www.equalstrength.eu.

Faculty Members

Saturday, 2 November, 2024

Image of Staff Member David Anzola

David Anzola

Assistant Professor, Director of MSc Social Data Science

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Boróka Bó

Assistant Professor, Communications Coordinator

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Gerard Boucher

Assistant Professor, Director of MSc Comparative Social Change

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Sarah Carol

Assistant Professor, Director of Graduate Studies

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Image of Assistant Professor Emeka Dumbili

Emeka Dumbili

Assistant Professor

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Marta Eichsteller

Assistant Professor, Director of MSc Global Solutions

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Profile photo of Barbara Górnicka

Barbara Górnicka

Assistant Professor, Examinations Officer, Student Academic Adviser

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Egle Gusciute

Egle Gusciute

Assistant Professor, Ethics Officer

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Alexander Kondakov

Assistant Professor, Director of Teaching & Learning

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Sara O'Sullivan

Sara O'Sullivan

Associate Professor

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UCD School of Sociology

Newman Building (Room D401), University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
T: +353 1 716 8263